Certification Circus
Escape the Certification Circus: Embrace Learning in Public Instead
Hey Peeps,
My employer is transitioning from a policy that reimbursed for certifications to a collaborative training program where leadership selects the training. Given my struggle to justify the ROI for some of these Agile certifications, I can't be too angry about their change in direction.
Since the PMI-PMP training is on the list of contenders, I've been searching for an alternative to relying on my employer's training strategy to satisfy my continuous learning journey.
As I see it, there are four primary issues I have with the certification circus:
High Cost
Trainer Competency
Incompatible Learning Style
Lack of Application
HR Certification Bias
We can generally attribute the price of a standard certification to a course that is a prerequisite for the test to obtain said certificate. Given that I place more value on learning and less on the piece of paper, taking a 'learn in public' approach to my education will solve most of my issues.
The idea of embracing public learning resonates with me from various perspectives.
First, it aligns with the principle of HOPE (help one person every day). By sharing my learning journey, others will likely stumble upon it and find value in it.
Second, the best way to learn is to teach, which is the crux of learning in public.
Lastly, it aligns with Tiago Forte's four-step process for knowledge management known as CODE (capture, organize, distill, and express) and my endeavor to build a zettelkasten and second brain.
I reduce my costs significantly by opting for certifications like those offered by Scrum.org or Prokanban.org that don't require a course to gain access to the test.
I don't have to worry about my trainer not having the experience to teach the course, as it's on me to consume and internalize the resources they list in their learning plans. Alternatively, I can develop and follow my own syllabus based on research. With all the free learning we can access, finding multiple resources for a topic is easy. Reading differing opinions can help ensure I'm not unthinkingly following one person's opinion.
This approach also aligns better with my learning style. I can follow a syllabus, learn, and document at my own pace, incorporating some of the concepts of slow productivity from Cal Newport.
Regarding the application of knowledge, slowing down the learning process will give me more time to experiment with my teams. This practical experience will be worth more than anything I could gain from a two-day course.
I can solve the last issue with some creative resume tweaks. In an episode of the Agile Mentors podcast, the hosts discussed the struggle to get through recruiters just looking for the certification acronyms.
Although they do not advocate lying on your resume, they suggested that an alternative might be:
Anticipated CSM MM/DD/YYYY
Adopting a format like this with a link that demonstrates my learnings might be possible. Perhaps something like:
CSM - Certification Equivalency: bit.ly/CSMEquivalent
I am still deciding whether this is genius or stupidity. Approaching this as an employer, I'd rather hire someone who's documented their learning journey versus someone who took a two-day course and passed an easy exam.
If you find yourself struggling to justify the cost of expensive Agile certifications, look into some alternative learning options. Drinking from the fire house of multi-day courses might not be the most bang for you buck.
Cheers,
Miranda Dulin
📖 Currently Reading
When Will It Be Done? by Daniel Vacanti.
This is a common question that I’ve been trying to answer for my whole career and I’m surprised that we’ve always had a statistical way to answer this, but this approach has been ignored in favor of the less effective story points and velocity method.
❤️My Favorite Things
🎬 YouTube Channel - Drunk Agile. Explain flow metrics in a way that humans can understand.
📚Book - Flow Metrics for Scrum Teams. Actionable directions to make Scrum more objective based.
🎵Music- Trash Truck Song by Boris Loves Trucks. We have this set up on an Alexa routine to remind us to take the trash out the night before. It make me crack up every time it kicks on and makes taking the trash out less annoying.
📃Article - First 30-60-90 Days as a Scrum Master. An interesting take on planning out your first days with a new team. Will definitely be incorporating ideas from this into my own approach.
🔗 Website - Agile Ambition. Check out the blog. I’m working to take it in a new direction focus more on learning in public as discussed above, but there are some interesting existing articles.
✍️ Quote of the Week
“Accountability can be offered, asked, even demanded, but it cannot be forced.”
From Accountability in Software Development by Kent Beck.